Electrical connectors such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,318, issued Nov. 9, 1999, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, are known to have female terminals that snap lock into a connector housing. During assembly of conventional connectors, the terminal is inserted axially along a connector mating axis whereupon a bottom portion of the terminal rides upward upon a ramped tab projecting radially inward and upward in a terminal cavity defined by the housing. As the bottom portion of the terminal rides upward, a top portion of the terminal contacts and resiliently bends a flex beam of the housing radially outward and upward. The terminal snap locks to the housing when a window in the lower portion of the terminal aligns axially to the tab causing the resilient force of the flex beam to push down upon the terminal thus snap fitting the tab into the window.
Although these electrical connectors have generally worked well for smaller connectors used in twelve to fourteen volt automotive electrical systems, high voltage systems having direct current ratings of about 150 amps to 200 amps require much larger connectors that require connector retention values of at least 150 Newtons. Unfortunately, known electrical connector housings and inner locking bodies for high voltage systems are insufficient for reliable terminal retention. Specifically, the flexibility of the flex beam is not restricted even after the connector is fully assembled, thus known terminals, and especially terminals of larger size and larger cable size, can rock within the housing cavity. This terminal rocking and flex beam deflection may ultimately cause failure of terminal retention to the housing.